Although his brother and nephew are the household names in Formula One, Jacques Villeneuve Senior carved out a reputation for himself in Canada where he was the three-time winner of the World Championship Snowmobile Derby as well as competitor in Formula Atlantic, CART, Can-Am, snowmobile racing and Formula One.

His three F1 outings failed to produce a start. At the end of 1981 he took a couple of drives for Arrows but failed to qualify for the Canadian or Caesars Palace Grand Prix. While experienced generally, he was out of his depth in an F1 car and it showed. With hindsight, the opportunities probably were down to the family name and sponsorship opportunities.

Two seasons later he came close to qualifying, again at the Canadian GP, in a RAM, drafted in with some financial backing and after some promising testing.
Martin Williamson